Hi everyone!
I am so excited that Teresa Robinson, aka @stargardener, asked me to participate in her Art Party New Years Eve 2016 Celebration. I can't think of a better way to ring in a new year than by spending time with friends as we create and share together All Things GRACE in our lives.
I am extremely inspired by song lyrics and I have had some lyrics from the song "Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up!)" by Florence and the Machine running through my head for well over a month. I created a two-page spread in my collage journal not long ago using some of the lyrics from this song. You can see that video by clicking here.
Another line from the song has been itching to be expressed in my journal and it inspired my prompt for tonights gathering, which is RELEASE.
"And in the spring I shed my skin and
it blows away with the changing wind".
- lyrics from "Rabbit Heart" by Florence and the Machine
When I think of those lyrics, I envision myself tossing out all of the bad things from 2015 and releasing them into the wind....and then, welcoming in and asking for the grace of positives in contrast to those things that I'm letting go. I am hoping that by creating a visual representation of these feelings that it will help me truly let them blow away so that I can start working on the positives that I want in 2016. I have acknowledged them and make them known. Now it's time to let them blow away and begin fresh. While working on the RELEASING page, I decided that it was important for me to acknowledge and make not of the things in life that I want to be blessed with....areas that are opposite of those things that I'm letting go, areas that I want to work on with my personal growth and life. By looking at those things that I want to remove from my life, it helped me put into words ways I want to bless my life in 2016. These pages are in my Moleskine Art Plus Sketchbook. It has thick, card stock like pages that are perfect for collage pages.
I absolutely love the image of the lady floating in the water and wanted to use as much of it that I could. There was quite a bit of text along the bottom third that I had to cut off. Since I wanted to use the whole image, and didn't want to turn it on it's side to make it fit on the page, I decided to add a tip-in. This way I was able to use the whole image by placing it on the journal page and the rest of it onto the tip-in. I like to use postcards that we receive from a local art gallery for my tip-in's because they have beautiful art on the front and I almost always leave it as is.
I wasn't able to find the words "RELEASE" and "BLESS" in any of my magazines (yes, there have been times when I spent hours looking through piles of magazines for the perfect word...it's a sickness lol) so I used some letter stickers. And, to make things easier, I typed up the things that I'm releasing and what I want to be blessed with on my typewriter.
The beautiful papers that you see on the right side are collage sheets that are available from Tangie Baxter's Art Journal Emporium. I love the papers she creates so much and they work perfect as backdrops for the found words and phrases that I put on my journal pages.
The images that I have been using a lot lately are from Bella Grace Magazine. I have completely fallen in love with the photographs from this magazine. So much so that I started buying two copies....one to keep and one to cut up. I know that this is pricey, because it's not a cheap magazine (like any are anymore! lol) but I decided that since I wasn't buying any other magazines really and the fact that I am using so many images from the magazines in my journal, that it was worth it. The joy that I am getting from creating meaningful pages with the images makes it worth the expense. I was lucky to find two different issues of Bella Grace at my local Half-Price Book Store for $5 each, so it's always good to look around at places like that for magazines that you love!
I hope you're enjoying your evening of creativity with us and don't forget to visit Teresa's blog, Right Brain Planner. She has so much to offer there, including a free 27-page printable booklet called, "Monthly Planner - Journal for Gluebooking - Writing Your Story in 2016". Just go to the bottom of the page at this post and click on the image at the very bottom. And, be sure to follow her on Instagram, @stargardener, because every Saturday she has a new blog post and prompt for Glue Book Saturday!
Take care everyone, thanks so much for stopping by and I hope that you had a very wonderful and blessed holiday season!
Happy New Year! And watch out 2016, here we come!
di
